Genocide Watch

Obama should remember Rwanda as he weighs action in Syria 
By Anne-Marie Slaughter, New York Times 
26 April 2013

Anne-Marie Slaughter is a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. She was director of policy planning at the State Department from 2009 to 2011.

The Rwanda genocide began in April 1994; within a few weeks, nongovernmental organizations there were estimating that 100,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been massacred. Yet two months later, Reuters correspondent Alan Elsner and State Department spokeswoman Christine Shelly had an infamous exchange:

Elsner: “How would you describe the events taking place in Rwanda?”

Shelly: “Based on the evidence we have seen from observations on the ground, we have every reason to believe that acts of genocide have occurred in Rwanda.”

Elsner: “What’s the difference between ‘acts of genocide’ and ‘genocide’?”

Shelly: “Well, I think the — as you know, there’s a legal definition of this. .  . . Clearly not all of the killings that have taken place in Rwanda are killings to which you might apply that label. .  .  . But as to the distinctions between the words, we’re trying to call what we have so far as best as we can; and based, again, on the evidence, we have every reason to believe that acts of genocide have occurred.”

Elsner: “How many acts of genocide does it take to make genocide?” 

Shelly: “Alan, that’s just not a question that I’m in a position to answer.” (read more)

Genocide and Mass Atrocities Alert: Syria 
Updated: 26 April 2013

Since the beginning of March 2011, the stability of the Syrian Arab Republic has degenerated at an alarming rate. Genocide Watch warns that massacres and mass atrocities against pro-democracy protesters and the civilian population are being committed by Syrian security forces under the command of the al-Assad government. Protests turned violent as former Syrian troops defected and formed the “Free Syrian Army,” which the Syrian government continues to call a “terrorist” organization to justify its all out war against the rebels and Sunni Muslim civilians. What began as the violent repression of civilian protests has escalated to a civil war. Whole cities have been shelled by Syrian tanks and mortars, and investigations have led several countries to accuse government forces of using chemical weapons against civilians. Reports of human rights abuses by rebel forces have increased. One group of jihadist rebels has declared itself an al-Qaeda affiliate. With over one million people displaced and the death toll over 70,000, the war rages on, threatening the stability of the region.

Violent attacks on civilians by the al-Assad regime have continued to escalate in brutality as the government and opposition forces vie for control of strategic locations. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in February 2013, the death toll in Syria was approaching 70,000 – an overwhelming increase since July 2011, when Genocide Watch issued its first Genocide Alert for Syria. As of April 2012, the U.N. Refugee Agency recorded over 1,300,000 refugees having fled to neighboring countries, mainly Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

As the intense struggle for power continues between the al-Assad regime and opposition fighters, the government has tried to close off borders and shut down the Internet. However, information on the mass atrocities has been obtained from victims and witnesses by the U.N. Human Rights Council, the BBC, Human Rights Watch, and the Arab League’s Commission of Inquiry. Video footage of the violence and witness testimonies continue to surface on the Internet and are broadcast on world mass media. Although the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria has cited abuses on both sides, their report in February 2013 held that government atrocities far outweighed those committed by rebels.

The evidence is conclusive that the al-Assad regime is committing intentional crimes against humanity. Among the crimes the al-Assad regime is committing are: indiscriminant, widespread attacks on civilians, arbitrary detention of thousands in the political opposition, genocidal massacres of whole villages of Sunni Muslims, rape of detainees, widespread torture- including torture and murder of children- and denial of food, medicines and other essential resources to civilians.

The Alawite government of al-Assad believes it is about to lose all power in a zero-sum, winner take all revolution. Its massacres have become genocidal. Early warning signs and stages of genocide in Syria are:

• Prior unpunished genocidal massacres, such as those perpetrated by Assad’s father in Hama in the 1980’s;
• Rule by a minority sect – the Alawite sect that supports Assad – with an exclusionary ideology
• Systematic human rights atrocities; 
• Fear by the ruling elite that any compromise will mean total loss of their power;
• Deliberate targeting of particular groups -- Sunni Muslims and army defectors;
• Denial by the Syrian government that it is committing crimes against humanity, blaming “foreign - inspired terrorist gangs” for the armed conflict.

Previous efforts by the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution proposed by the Arab League, calling for the resignation of President Assad and supporting an Arab League peace plan, were impeded by Russia and China’s veto. A nearly identical U.N. General Assembly Resolution was passed in 2012 by a vote of 137 to 12, and the past U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, denounced the al-Assad regime’s crimes against humanity. Shortly thereafter, Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a recommendation that the U.N. Security Council refer evidence of atrocities committed by government forces in Syria to the International Criminal Court. In April 2012, a peace proposal called for a UN-supervised ceasefire, but the deadline passed with no lessening of violence. Plans such as the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria have continued to fallthrough due to the intense, ongoing violence.

Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed U.N. and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria in August 2012. He has proposed an arms embargo on both sides. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also supports ending the supply of weapons on both sides. However the Arab League opposes this action because al- Assad continues to receive military supplies from Iran and Russia. In April 2013, the U.N. Security Council issued a non-binding statement that “The escalating violence is completely unacceptable and must end immediately," and that the Council "urged all parties to ensure safe and unimpeded access for aid organizations to those in need in all areas of Syria." But the U.N. has taken no action.

Despite the Syrian National Coalition being granted Syria’s seat at the Arab League in March 2013, factions remain within the opposition forces, and there is growing concern of spillover from the conflict to other countries in the region. There is still hesitation among Western countries to provide further aid and arms to the rebels. Russia rejects any actions that could lead to regime change. The pressure on the United States to urge regional allies to intervene has increased with recent reports citing the use of chemical weapons by the al-Assad regime.

Genocide Watch offers the following recommendations:

• The Arab League, Turkey, the Islamic Conference, and other nations should demand an immediate cease-fire in Syria, with full rights for non-violent protest.
• The Arab League and Turkey should quickly create an Islamic Court to try al-Assad and other Syrian officials for crimes against humanity under Islamic law;
• The Arab League, Turkey, European Union, US and other nations should impose targeted national and regional sanctions against financial accounts, visas, and businesses owned by top officials of the Syrian regime and its army;
• Arab and NATO nations should offer to cooperate with Russia to airlift and ship in humanitarian and medical relief supplies to all parts of Syria;
• The UN General Assembly should pass another resolution demanding fully protected access for UN and international aid workers and journalists to all areas of Syria.

(Click here for the pdf version)

Thirteen dead in Central African Republic gunbattle
By Paul-Marin Ngoupana
15 April 2013

BANGUI - Clashes between fighters who seized power in Central African Republic last month and youths loyal to the ousted former president has killed at least 13 people and left dozens wounded, medical sources said on Monday.

The fighting on Sunday was the heaviest in the capital Bangui since a grouping of five rebel movements known as Seleka seized the city on March 24, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee to neighboring Cameroon.

"Following yesterday's fighting, we've recorded 13 dead by gunshot ... and 52 wounded," said Romain Guitinzia, director of the hospital that received victims of the violence.

A previous provisional death toll had listed seven people killed, including three who died when a shell struck their church. The new figures were confirmed by the local Red Cross. (read more)

Genocide Warning: Central African Republic
04 April 2013
By Katelyn Nawoyski

The political background for the current crisis in the Central African Republic is described in Genocide Watch’s Country Report of 2012. The Central African Republic was part of French Equatorial Africa and became independent in 1960. French authorities gave preference in education to ethnic groups near Bangui, the capital. This created an elite among the Southern Riverine peoples – including the Ngbaka,, Yakoma and Ubang. This elite dominated ruling positions in the CAR until 1996 even though northern and central ethnic groups are more populous, creating resentment among northern and central groups.

In 1996, Ange-Félix Patassé – from a northern ethnic group, the Kaba – was elected President. He was re-elected in 1999.  The Yakoma, from the old ruling elite, rebelled.  The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic – called MINURCA – attempted to oversee “peace accords” between the Yakama and Patassé’s Kaba.  But despite the UN’s good intentions, MINURCA lacked all three conditions for a successful UN Peace Keeping Operation (PKO):

1. There must be a peace to keep.
2. The PKO must have the Mandate and the material means to enforce it.
3. The PKO must be backed by the UN’s political will to support the PKO financially, with enough well-trained personnel to enforce the peace, and with robust Rules of Engagement. 

After a failed coup attempt in May 2001, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada reported government sponsored reprisal arrests and killings of Yakoma in Bangui.  Many Yakoma were forced to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to escape the killings.

A bloodless coup ensued in March 2003 when François Bozizé took power. Bozizé was then elected in May 2005. Two groups of rebels – one based in the northeast (called the Seleka Coalition) and one based in the northwest near the border with Sudan and Chad – organized to oust Bozizé.

According to the United States Institute of Peace fighting in the northwest displaced over 270,000 people over one-quarter of the northwest region’s population of one million people.

Seleka forces entered Bangui and took the Presidential Palace on March 24, 2013, forcing President Bozizé to flee the country. Seleka’s leader – Michel Djotodia – declared himself President.

Djotodia announced he would also be Minister of Defense. The US State Department expressed concern at the undemocratic nature of the coup d’état.

The Red Cross reported on April 1, 2013, that 78 bodies had been found during the week after Djotodia came to power, and The Guardian reported that Djotodia used child soldiers who were killed during the coup. The Guardian documented first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses that Seleka child soldiers appeared to be drugged, and some were crying for their mothers before they were killed. Use of child soldiers is a war crime.  South Africa – which had sent 298 soldiers to aid Bozizé’s government – lost thirteen men. The UN Security Council condemned Djotodia’s coup. The African Union sanctioned Seleka leaders and suspended the CAR’s participation in the African Union.

Genocide Watch has issued a Genocide Alert for the Central African Republic. Genocide Watch recommends that the follow actions be taken immediately:

• The Central African Republic is a state-party to the Rome Treaty of the International Criminal Court.  If Seleka leaders used child soldiers, they should be charged and tried by the ICC.
• The Central African Republic should not be re-admitted into the African Union until it holds free and fair elections for public officials.
• Uganda has withdrawn its forces from the Central African Republic in the hunt for Joseph Kony, who is believed to be hiding in the CAR.  The UN should demand that the CAR cooperate fully in Kony’s capture for trial by the International Criminal Court.

Genocide Emergency: Violence against the Rohingya and other Muslims in Myanmar
04 April 2013, updating Genocide Emergency by Genocide Watch 29 March 2012
By Katelyn Nawoyski

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority of one million people that has lived in Rakhine state for centuries.  But they face systematic religious and ethnic discrimination because under Myanmar’s constitution, they are not classified as one of 135 legally recognized ethnic minority groups with Myanmar citizenship.  Ethnic Burmese consider the Rohingya as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh.  But Bangladesh does not recognize the Rohingya as its citizens.

Without citizenship, the Rohingya have no civil rights in Myanmar.

• The regime refuses to issue identification cards to Rohingya, which are necessary to be able to travel, as well as to obtain passports and enroll in higher education.
• They are denied land and property rights and ownership. The land on which they live can be taken away at any time.
• The Rohingya people are barred from government employment.
• Marriage restrictions are imposed on them.  They are limited to two children per couple.
• They are subject to forced labor, extortion and other coercive measures.
• Public services such as health and education are neglected. Illiteracy is 80%.
• More than 40,000 Rohingya children in western Myanmar are deprived of rights to travel,   to attend school, or to marry in the future, because their parents had an unauthorized marriage or exceeded the two-child limit the Myanmar government has imposed on the Rohingya. These blacklisted children are refused birth registration, and so are not included in family lists and must be hidden during the authorities’ population checks.
• The Rohingya are subject to curfews and other restrictions on basic freedoms.

The Rohingya are a dehumanized and persecuted minority in Myanmar.  Many attempt to flee to Bangladesh or Malaysia in rickety boats, but are not accorded the rights of refugees in those countries.  Some of these boat people drown.

Among the crimes against humanity the Myanmar military regime is committing against the Rohingya are: denial of citizenship, imprisonment in displaced persons camps, murder, denial of the right to travel, denial of education rights for children, and denial of food and medicines.

During 2012, violence increased against Rohingya and other Muslims in the Rakhine State. According to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Rohingyas have become one of the most oppressed ethnic groups in the world. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on discrimination against the Rohingya.

Miss Thidar Htwe, a Buddhist woman from Rakhine, was murdered on 28 May 2012. Government officials arrested and charged three Muslim men with the attack. The Economist reported that six days later a mob of Buddhist vigilantes stopped a bus carrying Muslim pilgrims, killing ten and raping one. Violence by Buddhists against Muslims grew. Scores of Rohingya were slaughtered. Attacks against Muslims have now spread to other areas of Myanmar. Attacks by government forces followed shortly thereafter. Mass media have incited discrimination against the Rohingya and Muslims, using derogatory terms and twisted stories when reporting on incidences.

Violence against Muslims is not just targeted against the Rohingya; Muslims living in other states have also been targets of ethnic, racial, and religiously motivated violence. The Burmese government has committed atrocities against Muslims, including mass killings and rapes, burning of Muslim villages, arrests, forced labor, and torture. Many Muslims attempt to escape to Bangladesh for sanctuary. However, in Bangladesh the Myanmar refugees face discrimination, exploitation, and deportation. In Myanmar, the Rohingya are a stateless people.

On 28 March 2013, The New York Times reported that President Thein Sein publicly declared that he would begin using force to stop religious conflict and rioting in Myanmar. This was the president’s first public comment on the issue since 40 Muslims were killed during rioting in central Myanmar the week before. About 12,000 were forced out of their homes and into refugee shelters as a direct result of that rioting, which included burning of Muslim houses and mosques. This was the worst instance of violence against Muslims in the past year.

The release from house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and lifting of restrictions on trade have given much of the world press a false sense that the Myanmar regime is liberalizing.  In fact, the model it is following is China’s, with firm control by the military unshaken. 

On 29 March 2013, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, issued a statement from Geneva in which he not only expressed the UN’s concerns about the violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, but urged the government to take “bold steps” to rectify the ongoing violence. Quintana noted the violence has been occurring since June and the government has not been doing enough to stop it.

State-supported violence against Muslims not only continues a long pattern of discrimination, but is also a warning sign that genocidal violence against Muslims, Shin, Karen, and other minorities remains rampant in Myanmar.

Genocide Watch is issuing an updated Genocide Emergency Alert for the Rakhine State of Myanmar.  Genocide Watch recommends that the following actions be taken:

• Myanmar authorities should cease human rights violations against the Rohingya and other Muslims, and against other minority groups;

• The Myanmar Parliament should pass legislation that grants full citizenship to the Rohingya with all rights of citizens of Myanmar, including the right to hold land titles and travel, and other rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

• Bangladesh should adhere to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees by accepting Rohingya refugees, permitting them to settle in refugee camps until they can be repatriated with full citizenship rights in Myanmar. 

Genocide Emergency: Kachin State
04 April 2013
By Katelyn Nawoyski

Fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin state pits the Kachin Independence Army and its majority Christian population against the Burmese Buddhist government.  Ethnic Shan in Kachin State have also been displaced.

Kachin State
In 1994, the Burmese government reached a peace agreement with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) ending large-scale conflict between the two parties in the jade-rich territory. KIO maintained effective control, and political tension remained high for the next 17 years. In June 2011, that ceasefire agreement was shattered and fighting once again broke out between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government when the government attacked KIA forces near a hydropower plant. Fighting since has been non-stop.

The government says it only attacks in self-defense. However, it appears that the government is trying to capture KIA headquarters in Laiza. The line of command for attacks is ambiguous since the creation of the new democratic government, and it is unclear whether many of the attacks are directed by the central government or are occurring on the basis of local government action. Government attacks on Kachin villages have intensified since December 2012.

Human Rights Watch estimates that since the attacks have begun, over 75,000 Kachins have been forced to flee their homes looking for refuge. Attacks include raids and burnings of villages and rapes and murders.  Many Kachin have fled to China, only to be deported.

On January 19, 2013, President Thein Sein declared a ceasefire, which was immediately broken by his own army. The two groups – KIA and the government – met for peace talks in February 2013, but tensions remain and there has been no stop to the violence. Tens of thousands of Shan Buddhists have also been displaced from Kachin state since June 2011. About 300,000 of Kachin State’s 1.2 million residents are Shan. Kachin Christians also face discrimination. It is estimated that over 100,000 Kachins have been displaced as a direct result of the fighting.

Relief groups from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the World Food Program (WFP) entered remote areas of the Kachin state to provide aid – in the form of supplies and relief workers – in late February. The UN had talks with the government to ensure that aid workers would be safe.


Genocide Watch has issued an updated Genocide Emergency Alert for the Kachin State of Myanmar.

Genocide Watch recommends that the following actions be taken immediately: 

• Myanmar authorities should cease human rights violations and violent attacks against the Shans and Kachins;

• Myanmar authorities should abide by a ceasefire agreement with the Kachin Independence Army and ensure it is maintained by government military forces in the Kachin State;

• China should adhere to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees by accepting refugees from the Kachin State, permitting them to settle in refugee camps until they can safely return without threat from Myanmar government military forces. 

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Genocide Watch is the Coordinator of the International Alliance to End Genocide.